Hey nitai, I sailed at manly for years (I now sail at wello since I now live there). I have fished moreton bay all of my life.

There are many big sharks in the bay, tangalooma used to be a whaling station and it was here I believe that the world record white pointer was caught that the story refers to. When we went to St Helena as kids they told us they used to try to attract the sharks to deter prisoners from swimming to the mainland. I have caught heaps of sharks, mostly small ones like pictured but many I have had no chance of landing on some pretty heavy tackle. Dont be put off by the number of small sharks though think of these just like any other fish and are doing us a favour by keeping the bay reasonably clean.

There are situations and places to avoid though, where that woman swimming at amity pt was is one of them. I would never swim in/near the rainbow channel ever (I have actually been fishing at amity when less than 3m away big sharks have come near the surface and scared the crap outta me cause that is damn close when you are sitting by or standing in the water). Think about it this way, big sharks cover a huge area but they will stay where most of the food is. Everything that comes into moreton bay (big sharks, whales, schools of fish etc)comes through 1 of 2 places north of moreton which is quite a large area or between moreton and straddie which is quite narrow condensed area.

Avoid the shipping channel, big sharks traditionally follow the ships and eat all the garbage. Avoid shallow areas next to big drop offs and areas where there is deep-shallow-deep ie the bank that goes out from the point at Manly, dont avoid it like the plague just be wary not to stand out there for half and hour taking a break-it never stopped some of us though(there is a gutter that runs out on the northern side of that bank which is called shark alley/gutter). Most attacks happen in shallow water due to the displacement of water by the shark and natural tendancies to chase things which dont swim to well on the land. I dont know if you've ever seen the dolphins working the schools of fish into the beach down there at Manly, it is pretty cool.

Avoid crab pots and to some extent be aware of the time you spend in the water during crabbing season. Avoid sailing at sunrise/sunset, fishing though we would tend to catch sharks just after the sun has gone down... too dark to sail then. Avoid sailing just after heavy rain, there are more implications than just sharks here hitting a tree floating just under the water tends to put a damper on your day as does stepping on a catfish or bullrout that get flushed into the bay. A word of warning, there used to be a huge tiger shark that used to come into the bay for a week or so every year I dont know if it still does but it used to be around d'arcy light and come down into the bay at manly. We always used to hear if it was around or see it, most people still sailed.

After all that just go out and sail, most people I know suffer some sort of shark phobia. As said a million times before you have greater chance of getting killed by being hit by a car, a boat, another sailboarder or 100x greater chance of a kite landing on your head . Its all a game of odds, when your time is up your time is up. Dont believe all the crap in the media, a so called shark expert said bull sharks are more prevalent in the bay after rain since they get sick from fresh water... this is strange since they can and do live in fresh water (fish get ill/sluggish from fresh water, easy food for sharks)- I hate the media.

If you are ever sailing at manly or wello and see me out come up and say hi, I have either MK7 or AUS357 sail numbers so pretty noticeable. I dont sail manly too much unless I can drag my mate out that lives down there. I sailed there saturday for the first time in ages, was good fun a little gusty but good for a change of scenery.

Why windsurf when you can speak cr@p all day

Some of us dont get the luxury of sailing everyday, and I spend my time relaxing before work here.

Nitai you better catch vando on the land, cause on the water you wont see him- "fastest" sailer in qld be he *cough cough*

Mike- strapped the gps to tom's arm on saturday 28.3 first run (first sail in a year in fact). When I finally got the gps back off him I only managed 29.5 with the chop and gusts it was all a bit of a handful on the hyper. Didnt try a run down the wall though. There is alot of potential in tom if I can get him to sail, he is one of the fastest sailors I know in the right conditions and I gave him some damn fast sails last year.

mmm 28.3 and 29.5 knots a Mark add another 5 and you would be close to me LOL.
Nitai don't worry to much about the shark thing, I would be more worried about those darn kites loping my head off.

Nitai,

I have sailed Moreton Bay - mostly out of Manly for ~ 10 years.

I have seen sharks (2 x 3ftoot fellow) and 1 x 8-12 foot (out near Green Is in my travels. We think this was the legendary Tiger Shark who used to visit around Christmas every year.

One unfotunate story was of the young lass who was bitten on the heel by the wobbegong she walked on at Manly - just off the rock wall and ther have been reports of a fisherperson landing a 7ft - again off he rock wall at Manly.

The risk really is minimal and it is much more likley that you will be injured from a windsurfing manoeuvre. accident.

Think about it - you fall in the water 8 -10 times over a 2-3 hour period and you need to do so in the vicinity of a shark (rare) to be in any danger.

Keep sailing - When at Manly you can find me using mostly Naish gear.

- J

nitai i really wouldnt worry about it, really when your time is up it is up there is nothing you can do. The chick that was killed is the first fatality I can remember in the bay, way back yonder in the ultimate case of **ty luck a guy dropped something from his boat jumped over the side and apparently pretty much straight onto a big shark. My dad told me this story so it could be anywhere up to 80 years ago, it did happen out from wynnum.

My family has been netting down at Lota on the banks for years and would regularly get up to 6-7ft sharks tangled in the nets, you take care getting them out but they've never attacked us. They have had a few close calls over the years whilst fishing waist+ deep in water but that is just asking for it. drjukka the tiger is a little bigger than that, there are plenty of 8-12ft sharks in the bay.

Sharks really arent too interested in people, watch surfers from a headland for a while and you'll see them swimming around underneath. There are/were also some old guys floating around that would swim out into the bay at both manly and wello and have done so for 20+ years. I asked the guy at wello if he worried about sharks, didnt worry him and he swims right out past the leads at wello down to ormiston and back up (boats are a greater concern). My dad is at me all the time about sharks, I tend to point out the high number of dugong, turtle, dolphin and crap pots in the bay which they can readily eat all of which have a little less fight than an angry human and are a little more nutritional as well.

Mike I think your gps is broken, or maybe mine you dont exactly overtake me too often . I wish i was sailing at wello, tom dosent like loading gear into car even though everyone else has to. I guess I cant push him too much it took a year to get him on the water again.

The only reason sharks try to eat people is to get back at them for being caught on a huge hook stuck in there mouth and getting dragged back to a boat. If we started catching dolphins they would turn on us too!

I can hear my board calling me so I don't think i'll be giving it up.

Do many people sail at Wello regularly? It's always comforting when there are others around, plus it reduces the odds!

where abouts at Wello do you guys surf?

@ Yousurf: I tend to agree with you. Personally i'm vegetarian (that includes no fish) so maybe if I paint "vegetarian" on the bottom of my board the sharkies will leave me alone.

Whats Redcliffe like?

cool. I should come over and check it out some time.

MK7

Vando's GPS is right on the money! (unfortunately) I wish it was broken too!!

On Saturday a few of the crew sailed out of the beach just south of RQ - which is where nitai sails (I think). We were trying this spot out at high tide. (maybe why Manly seemed quiet)

Happy to report it worked pretty well and suffered less from the channel chop you can get at Manly. There was some nice chop/ramps and If I worked upwind hard enough I could have sailed to Wello. The swell here seemed to have a longer pitch makeing it easier to sail - this does not make logical sense to me but it was my observation. Next high tide NE at 15-20 knots I will sail from this location.

FYI my speeds on Saturday (South of RQ) and Sunday (sailed with Vando) were within 0.5 knots.

DrJ

Geez Mike, talk about throwing down the gauntlet. You should be faster than everyone since you sail more than anyone I know.

I have sailed that spot at RQ, gets a little gusty in southerly. Is awesome in northerly, sailing from there to wello.

drjukka who are you? I believe that many would have been quite a bit faster, it was the first time I had the hyper out overpowered and it is damn scary (until I get used to it) a board that wide and short flying out of the water- I dont know how the hell formula guys manage. If I had it with me I would have taken out the 263 slalom, then I would have been a little closer to you guys no doubt- wont sail that again until I finish the nose modification though.

Wanted... a sponsor for vando who would humble even Bjorn Dunkerbeck for time spent on the water , I understand you've been missing fast cars for a while now and are trying to make up for it with windsurfing

Are you racing sunday btw?

Moreton Bay Waters:
Friday until midnight: NE winds 10/15 knots, seas to 0.7 metres.
Saturday: E/NE winds 10/15 knots, lighter in the morning. Seas to 0.7 metre.
Sunday: SE/E winds 10/15 knots.
Monday: SE/E winds 10/15 knots.
mmm dont think im going racing on Sunday long way for nothing.
Where's all the wind gone.

drjukka haven't had any wind to try that board of yours.
had a look at the bottom shape on it,No Vee but seems to have constant rocker line is this right, Prob why it get out of control
over 20+ knots.

ta Vando

Mark have you got your computer sorted yet.
When you do I give you a hand setting up gps software if you like.
You want to buy that board prob too fast for you $200 and its yours.
ta vando

Hey Mark have you done any good speeds this year.
If you have averaged over 30 it would be worth posting it on Al's site.
I didnt really get a very good go on the the Hyper you only had a 5.5 on in 15 knots.I have a new toy myself now Exocet Scross.
Ive also been playing around with fins in my spare time.

Now I know Mike's secret, it's all from Sandy Point ... Mike not really best i've done this year is about 32.9 on the 263, 32.3 on the hyper (on the day you tried it Mike) and 30.8 on my freestyle board.

Having used Mike's setup I do know why he goes faster than most on a broad reach. Mike also sails probably 4 times as much as I do, I think he stepped it up over the year as I dont think he was sailing this much last year. Of that 4 times as much 1/2 is spent on freestyle, 1/2 on slalom so he is more committed to going fast than I am, and gets to make the most of conditions if they are right.

I dont have a problem of times set at sandy point, provided location is stated. People generally know that insane speeds are reached down there.

Why the SCross and which size... 120 or smaller?